One indication that things are back to normal, President Donald Trump has said, will be when 100,000 people fill the football stadium at the University of Alabama. Even then, though, game day across the country won’t look and feel like it did before the coronavirus pandemic, numerous college officials say.

No one knows for sure whether college football will start as scheduled on Aug. 29 or be delayed until as late as 2021; whether games will be played in front of half-full stadiums or essential personnel only; or even what impact the timing of students returning to campus for classes will have on the final decision-making process. What we do know is that when games return, the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak are expected to drastically alter the fan experience, just as the attacks on 9/11 forever changed what it was like to attend a sporting event.

Athletic departments across the country already have started to plan for a new set of health standards that range from the basics — masks and gloves for workers and perhaps fans, sanitation stations and social distancing — to more extreme measures like temperature checks at the gate, cashless concessions and touchless ticketing.

“We’re already having conversations with our partners, other universities and even professional organizations to learn what they’re thinking about,” said Rick Steinbacher, senior associate athletic director who oversees the University of North Carolina’s facilities. “We’re just trying to consider every possibility.”

Football is responsible for 70%-80% of athletic revenue at most FBS schools, so officials consider it imperative to try to play a 2020 season, even under the most unusual and difficult circumstances. Their athletic budgets are counting on it.

That means preparing now, even though colleges aren’t exactly sure what they’re preparing for.

“There will come a point when we come out of the pandemic,” University of Houston Athletic Director Chris Pezman said. “And when we do, we’ve got to be ready.

“Everybody’s trying to understand what needs to happen. Do I clean the entire building after every game at an outdoor stadium? Normally you’d pressure wash once or twice a season, but now you could be fogging the whole thing every night. Who knows?”

Pezman worked in stadium operations for a decade at NRG Park in Houston before moving into college athletics at California and then Houston, his alma mater. Job one after the COVID-19 outbreak was to create a safe environment for the Cougars’ athletes and staff. It wasn’t long before his stadium instincts kicked in, and he began consulting with his administrative team on what game day might look like.

Pezman said they’re looking into distributing personal sanitary kits with gloves, masks and hand sanitizers that can be mailed to season-ticket holders along with their tickets. While that sounds like the bare minimum, Pezman still has questions.

“I just wonder if people are going to wear gloves and masks to some of those early games when it’s 100 degrees outside,” Pezman said. “Do you have security walking around enforcing that gloves and masks be worn or do you just accept that individuals are going to make their own decisions about that? Do you put a pandemic disclaimer on the back of the ticket? These are questions we’re thinking about now.”

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With every innovation geared toward fan safety comes a litany of questions.

Are schools invading personal privacy? Can they afford the latest, greatest technology when their budgets already are stretched thin by the impact of the pandemic? Will fans have enough room to social distance, especially in older college stadiums that typically don’t have enough space in the concourse to spread out?

“You want to do things in a way that makes fans feel more comfortable, not scared,” said Scott Carr, UCF’s deputy AD, brand activation. “There are multiple layers. It’s not just what you’re doing, it’s when you’re doing it, how you’re saying it and when you’re saying it. You want the reaction from the fans to be, ‘Oh, man, I’m glad they’re doing that.’”

College administrators acknowledge that game day for college football could look very different from campus to campus because health standards and conditions could vary from state to state, including how many people are allowed into the game. But there are common ideas being discussed:

Enhanced security screening: Some countries are now adopting the practice of checking each person’s temperature before they enter designated spaces. It’s conceivable that fans could pass through a security and temperature check before entering the stadium. Fans with specially issued coronavirus immunity cards might have a separate entrance that bypasses crowds, like the TSA pre-check line at the airport. But adding thermal imaging devices to check temperatures, on top of magnetometers, would be a considerable seven-figure expense for bigger schools and probably cost-prohibitive for schools outside of the Power Five.

Touchless ticketing: A dozen schools implemented mobile ticketing systems with tap-and-go technology last season for their students. The schools used handheld devices or installed ticket-reading pedestals at the gate to instantly read the ticket off the fan’s phone, which improved the flow of traffic into the stadium. Now, more specifically, this technology could alleviate the need for ticket takers to reach for tickets, scan them and then hand them back to fans, a potentially undesirable exchange for both parties. Craig Ricks from Paciolan, a ticketing software company that works with 140 schools, said interest in this form of mobile ticketing was up significantly before the outbreak, and it has accelerated since.

Staggered entry and spacing guidance: Designated times for fans to enter the stadium in order to prevent the crush of people arriving five minutes before kickoff is another idea. Colleges also are considering cues from grocery stores, which funnel foot traffic one way down an aisle to prevent congestion. Floor signage around high-traffic areas could remind fans about the 6-foot spacing rule.

Mobile-based concessions: Policies for food and beverage are another area of high concern among the schools. UNC, for example, is exploring a number of initiatives with its concessionaire, Aramark, including a mobile app where fans can order from their seats and pick up the order at a designated station, similar to the way some restaurants fulfill orders. Not ordering at a window would aid social distancing, especially in areas where restroom lines and concession lines are in conflict. Suites will bring additional challenges since many currently offer shared food services and are frequently used by companies for in-person networking and connecting with customers.

Plastic only: Cashless transactions for concessions and merchandise purchases could ease congestion and contact. Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium and Tampa’s Tropicana Field began implementing a totally cashless system in 2019 and got raves about it. Dyehard Fan Supply, which has managed merchandise retail sales for nearly 20 schools, will be totally cashless this season in-venue and at its brick-and-mortar stores.

Streamlined amenities: Georgia AD Greg McGarity has a fairly radical thought to simplify matters even more: Games with no concessions at all. “You’ve got to figure out how many people you can facilitate in a safe way,” he said. “A lot of it is going to come down to an individual’s choice. It’s going to be like going to movie theaters, restaurants or an amusement park. ‘Are you comfortable going into that environment?’ Even if you’re doing everything right, there’s going to be a segment that’s not going to go.”

There are tradeoffs to be considered with each action.

“If you make it so difficult for people or you invade their privacy rights, they’re not going to come,” ASM Global Executive Vice President Doug Thornton said. “There’s a fine balance between overreacting and trying to make sure people are safe.”

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Thornton, who has managed the Mercedes-Benz Superdome since 1998, remembers how fans reacted when they attended their first sporting event after 9/11. They were excited to be back, but they also were fearful. Their behavior suggested: “Are we safe?”

He predicted on a recent podcast with EngageMint, a fan experience consulting firm, that fans will be asking the same question again when the games return.

“It could be 12 months or more before there’s a vaccine, and our businesses can’t stay shut down 12 months,” Thornton said. 

The new normal that emerged after 9/11 included more armed guards, clear bags and bag checks, expanded stadium perimeters and additional barricades. Those now serve as visual cues that the venue is safe.

“We have to inspire confidence,” Thornton said. “And you have to get it right in the first game. If people show up and they don’t see hand sanitizers all over the place, I don’t know if they will keep coming back. … It costs more to provide that level of security, but what we’ve found is that people don’t mind paying for it.”

When the fans return, those visual cues will be critical. Rick Jones, a managing partner at EngageMint, said he’d park cleaning trucks at every gate as visual reinforcement.

“You’ve got to remove the psychological barriers,” Jones said. “I’d make cleaning crews highly visible. I’d staff bathroom with extra attendants to keep it clean. We’re going to have to look at everything we do differently.”